Calendar
by spotdot
Summary: Eren finds a hidden calendar under Levi's pillow and instead of events, it has notes on all the days that their relationship progressed, plus one event marked as "the day I tell him".
1. Prologue

There's something that relaxes Eren about being being in the short, black haired man's room while he waits for him to finish showering. When he's done, they can go to the bar downtown, the same one they met at only months ago on Eren's birthday, called Survey.

After some encouragement for Levi to take his time, Eren reckons he has about five minutes to ransack the bedroom of all the memories Levi has hidden somewhere. They have to be somewhere. Because if not, the double bed, the oak colored desk of drawers and the lack of possessions in general would drive a person crazy. Then again, Levi is a quirky man; he's probably considered crazy already.

The surface of the drawers have nothing on them, except for towels that wouldn't fit inside and had no other place to sit until needed, since Levi's studio apartment didn't have an airing cupboard. There's nothing on the gleaming, white windowsill either, the one that overlooks their rural city with its ancient, sandstone buildings, unlike this one.

Levi had once told him he considered himself lucky for getting a house that didn't crumble when he cleaned it. Yes, Levi cleans the exterior walls of the entire three storey flat, erected in the late 90's, using a ladder or his own climbing skills. Somehow, the landlord doesn't seem to mind. Well, the man does clean the building for free, although he also grumbles about the state of the place.

Now, there's only the double bed with it's black and white design, and Eren wonders if Levi followed the adolescent ritual of hiding personal things under the mattress. Eren can recall those painful teenage years and takes it all with a large pinch of salt. Yeah. They hadn't exactly been "the best years of his life". But right now, there are memories, keepsakes, that are at utmost importance, not his, of course.

Just as he lifts up one side of the mattress to look underneath, a flash of color catches his eye from beneath Levi's pillow. Bingo. He drops the mattress in favor of retrieving what seems to be a calendar, with professional pictures of landscapes from around the world plastered all over it.

However, in neat, sharpie-black writing beneath the words "Calendar 2014" on the front cover alongside a beautiful blue lake, its says "Progress Report".

Curious, Eren flips to the first month, January. There is nothing marked in the dated boxes, but there's a lovely picture of Buckingham Palace after top of the page. He flips onto February, but there's still nothing in Levi's writing, and to be honest he doesn't care to look at the Pyramids right now.

But when he turns to March, his birth month, and right at the very end where it says March 30th; there's a tidily written sentence in ballpoint pen.

"The day I met Eren Jaeger is the day I fell in love for the first time."


	2. March 30th

Even though Levi can hold his drink incredibly well, he doesn't go to bars often.

"Levi! Let me buy you a drink!" His tall, blonde and boisterous friend calls out to him from the bar counter with a huge, dorky grin.

The hulk of a man is probably the reason for his lack of visitation to bars.

The black haired man scoffs at him. "Tch, no."

Levi sits at his table, the one that's been abandoned by his friends that are now sitting at the counter, including Erwin, nursing his rum and coke. It's his rum and coke, since he bought it; and his pride likes that sense of possession. Erwin pouts back at him, which doesn't suit his Captain America-like face at all. In fact, it makes him look pretty damn dumb. Which in turn, makes Levi look dumb, seeing as he's actually friends with this idiot.

And not only that, they actually live together. Platonically. Because Levi kind of needs to freeload off of Erwin, seeing as he's piss poor. But he got a job recently as a cashier, so he'll use his owndamn money, fuck you very much.

Sure, Levi might be beneath Erwin, since the man's the assistant manager of their shop and he's simply a mere cashier, but he's got an income now; and it's enough to buy him his own drinks. Although he could've had a better income if Erwin hadn't been so bloody good at his job. In fact, he could've gotten Erwin's job, if Erwin himself hadn't been "oh so perfect" at it. Levi is never asking for a promotion ever again.

No-one else in the crowded pub seems to be affected by his sour mood. Instead, they're choosing to find happiness in the sour liquids they have in their glasses. If anything, it's actually a lively night in the overheated pub, Survey; there's cheerful pop music playing from the flat screen T.V on the wall and it seems as though it's somebody's birthday, seeing as people keep shrieking "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAN!" And there's lots of yelping, which follows the slaps on the back of a brown haired man, who chases after someone laughing at the top of their lungs, as though slapping the living daylights out of someone's back is the funniest thing in the world.

Ah yes: birthday bumps. In Glasgow, they had a similar sign of affection. If you were head-butted by friends on greeting, it was classed as a "Glasgow kiss". Or, you could ask an ignorant soul if they fancied a kiss, and you head-butted them; then they knew that you came from Glasgow and weren't to be fucked with.

Levi had done that a couple of times. It had been worth the bruise on his head and very much worth the look on those perverts' faces as they scrambled away down the alley. Good times, good times. Thank fuck he doesn't live there anymore. Trost, a good number of miles away and far north of Glasgow, is a better place for him to be in.

He decides to go to the bar counter, just to avoid having Erwin shout across the room at him again, because even if it isn't embarrassing for Levi, it's just annoying, and the whole place is loud enough as it is. He watches the brown haired man from his bar-stool, who seems to be twenty one, if that can be guessed from the huge ass balloon at the man's table.

The man's back is facing him, and he's chasing an obnoxious, sandy haired man, shouting after him in a very Northern accent "I'LL FUCKING CUT YER BALLS OFF, YOU SLIMY PEICE OF SHIT!" Well. If Levi can hear him over the racket, the man certainly has a set of lungs on him. And from his accent, that means he's from around here. Not to mention eloquent. Levi likes him already.

Then the song changes to something by Fitz and the Tantrums, and suddenly an entire table stops moving upon hearing the music. Even the brown haired man and his frenemy stop in their tracks.

They rush out, as though the fast-forward button has just been pressed after the pause, and they go into the middle of the room to dance. There has to be around twenty of them, all about the age of twenty one or so. Either this guy's birthday is a huge deal to them, or they don't have school tomorrow. Seeing as it's a Sunday night, it's probably the first.

For some reason, he's still watching the brown haired man, still looking at his back and he begins to wonder why until his focus turns around and Levi can see his face.

And what a face.

Levi inhales, and it's as though there's a rising fizz in his gut, one that doesn't quite feel like nausea but it still sets him on edge.

Like, damn, what a face.

It's heart shaped, tanned, clear skinned and his hair's in a middle parting, with chocolate brown threads that fall over his forehead. He's wearing a blue football shirt and jeans too. Levi wants to get closer, because this kid's eyes are as big as fuck, but he can't make out the colour of them. It's too dark, and he's too far away for Levi to ogle him properly.

So he does. He leaves a coaster on top of his drink, the universal sign for "don't fucking touch it", and he makes his way to the middle of the dance floor, closer to the man that's got his attention, not hearing his friends, Erwin, Hanji and Mike, cheering loudly behind him. He squeezes past sweaty bodies, because even though Levi is an intimidating person-he's fully aware of that-he's also shortand therefore not that noticeable in crowds. He is definitely all too aware of that.

Usually, when Levi is in the mood to find a partner, he picks out possible candidates from the crowd, then figures out if they're worth the trouble of talking to or not. He usually spends too long considering his choices and they wind up leaving before he gets a chance to talk to them.

Yeah, that doesn't seem to be the case tonight.

The song changes and the man he's seeking out stops dancing. His fringe is wet from excursion, his cheeks and forehead are red from dancing, and Levi can now see that his eyes are green, with a gleam of perfect, fearsome beauty that burns brighter when he smiles. Within the thrum of the crowd, Levi stares at him, he heart swells, and it feels like everything besides them has gone still. Now, he's only an arm's length away from the man.

A sense of giddiness takes over Levi, just as the man makes a move to leave, to go and sit down at the table where his friends are, and Levi grabs onto his arm with a look of undiluted hope. The feeling of skin on skin sends Levi into a trance, leaving him only able to feel the other man's heat.

The man looks back at him, with thick eyebrows frowning at the pressure of the firm grasp, clearly a little pissed off. But when he takes a look at Levi's face, he eases up and smiles broadly; about to politely greet the strange, black haired man, but Levi speaks first.

"You have such soft, fluffy hair. I just want to run my hands through it." Levi tells him in all seriousness, still holding onto his arm, while wistfully looking up at his hair. He stutters a breath.

Levi tilts his head, scanning the man's face. "What's your name?"

"Uh..." He's pretty damn cute when he's confused, and Levi likes that a lot. "Eren...Jaeger..? Do I, uh, know you from somewhere?"

Levi shakes his head, licking his lips, leaning closer, repeating the name in his head. Eren. Eren Jaeger. It's got a ring to it.

"No, you probably don't. I just wanted to talk to you. Is that alright?"

Eren's eyes widen. "Oh, I-I see, um…"

He glances back to the table where his friends are playing shot games and gesturing for him to come over when they see him looking over at them. He looks back at Levi with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, my friends are waiting for me. Maybe another time?"

Levi nods eagerly and frees Eren's arm. Behind Eren, he sees an Oriental, black haired woman narrowing her eyes at him at Eren's table, a glare of which he returns. The fuck is her problem? He's just trying to get laid, here. Maybe not even that. He likes this kid; he's sweet, and his attitude is endearing. He wouldn't mind asking him out, but the fizzing feeling is making it hard for him to breath, not to mention the warm air and the lack of outside's oxygen.

"Another time, then, when I find you here again."

Eren flashes him another grin before jogging over to the table that cheers at his arrival, a grin that leaves Levi breathless, making him stare at his back until the crowd covers Levi's view.

When, not if.

Because he will find him.

He knows his name now, so there's no way Eren will be out of Levi's reach. When you learn someone's name, you're automatically their friend, right? With a pleased sigh, he goes back to the counter, where his glass is untouched. He sits down, takes it off, then has a sip of his drink before he notices his friends are staring at him in a row, like the weirdoes they are.

"What?" he growls at their perplexed and slightly horrified expressions.

Hanji, a man with long, dark brown hair in a ponytail and glasses, raises his eyebrow at him, apparently shocked. "What was that, Levi?"

"What was what?"

"Your interaction with that boy!" He cries out in a high tone. Hanji's from Ireland and it shows in his accent. He gulps down half his beer before explaining. There's also the love of alcohol that explains his origin.

"You were so awkward, invading his personal space like that! The poor guy looked as though he thought you were going to devour him, with the way you were leering at him like that!"

Beside him, Erwin nods in a way that makes it clear he's had one over the eight. "It's why he didn't get the promotion he wanted."

Hanji spins round in the barstool to face Levi. "Say what?! You never told me you wanted a promotion, Levi!"

Levi rolls his eyes. "That's because I'm supposed to go to the boss when I want a promotion, not you."

"He lacks social skills," Erwin continued. "He's not good with customers, he makes little kids cower beneath the counter with the way he glares at them, and when he's on shift, nobody dares to pinch anythin' off the shelves. Ain't that right, Levi?"

Levi doesn't say anything and he glowers at Erwin instead, the man who has the job that Leviwanted and needed, much more than this idiot with too much money jingling in his pockets.

"He was pretty cute though, that boy." Hanji looks over to the table where Eren is skilfully making it through a round of shots without retching or gagging.

"You've probably scared him off though, typical." Erwin mumbles.

"Yeah," Levi lets one corner of his mouth turn upwards as he looks at Eren through hooded lids, ignoring Erwin. "He's a keeper, that one."

And Levi will be the one keeping him, because he knows Eren will be worth the chase.

Later on when Levi's at home, or Erwin's home, at least, he finds Erwin's new, unused calendar that's just sitting around on the glossy coffee table in the living room. And while lying on the black, leather couch; he recalls the bubbling feeling inside him when he saw Eren's face, when he heard the man's low and thick, Scottish accent and when he finally saw his green eyes up close. Christ, he even touched the angel's arm!

It could very well just be a simple crush, but the thing is, is that Levi's never had such an intense reaction to seeing someone, ever. So as he writes a sentence in ballpoint pen on the dated box, he knows full well that it makes perfect sense to mark down such an event. And it deserves to be written as poetically, and romantically, as the event happened:

"The day I met Eren Jaeger is the day I fell in love for the first time."


	3. April 2nd

He hasn't quite lost hope yet, but after a few days that lack Eren Jaeger and his green eyed goodness, Levi is beginning to feel a little disheartened. With a heavy sigh, he leaves the somber clinic and walks out into the cobble paved street. His GP's obnoxious words ring through his head.

"_You need to eat more__,__ Levi; it might be the reason for your bouts of insomnia.__"_

What a great way to spend a day off of work, huh?

Usually, Levi is lucky if he manages to get at least two or three hours of sleep, and that of course has absolutely nothing to do with his diet, which mostly consists of tea and canned food.

He'll have a bowl of rice every now and then. Erwin usually eats out, leaving him in the apartment alone with a boiling pan of the white stuff since he refuses to have food be bought for him, unless it's canned. Or curry. He can never say no to a good curry. Hanji knows this, and Levi and Erwin's crazy neighbor abuses this fact by bringing a steaming bowl of it over almost every night.

His insomnia and eating habits have nothing in common whatsoever, so he has no idea what made his GP think that one might cause the other. It's complete bullshit. The GP had been Erwin's idea, after finding Levi loitering with his gang in the streets of Glasgow in early February.

To think he'd been forced into living with that idiot only three months ago.

Erwin had lived in Glasgow too.

In fact, he had lived one street away from Levi.

The life expectancy differentiates at around twenty years between the two streets. And they hadn't lived even five minutes away from each other.

That means that Erwin was expected to live until he was at least seventy four years old, when he would die a peaceful death in his sleep. On the other hand, Levi was only likely to make it to fifty four, and most likely due to the filthy state of the Gorbals.

They're both in Trost now, though, so that changes things up a bit.

However, they both have very different backgrounds, different heights and different values, so according to political science; they'll end up in their own stereotyped lifestyle, sooner or later.

To begin with, Erwin had only gotten him a GP because his health was bad enough that even Levi knew it was a problem that had to be solved. He couldn't present himself for a job with a rash on his back, fungus on his toes and an ear infection, now, could he? Then the doctor started pressuring him for his daily habits, which were apparently bad habits.

So what if he's a bit lax in his diet? It's what he's used to. He's been living like a hobo for years, so it fucking takes time to get accustomed to "social norms", eating properly, or whatever.

He still sleeps with a blunt kitchen knife beside his head, and Erwin lets him, so long as he doesn't tear apart the couch in his sleep. Yeah. That's right Erwin. Make it all about yourself, as usual. The same way he made Levi's promotion all about him and his own amazing skills. The bastard had even told him afterwards that it was so he could "support the both of them".

Erwin, Mr. "I'm such a bloody hero" wouldn't fucking need to support them both if he'd kept his nose out of Levi's goddamn business.

Levi is so busy stewing over Erwin and his selfishness that he almost misses the familiar head of brown hair that bobs past him down the street.

When he properly notices Eren, a warm sensation engulfs his insides, as though the giddiness is literally bubbling away inside him, and Levi can practically _feel_ his eyes dilating.

For once in his life he actually feels a little overdressed. Levi is wearing a second hand t-shirt, dark blue jeans and white trainers, but even that's better than Eren's getup, which entails joggers with holes in them and an old polo shirt. Eren slouches as he walks, like most people his age usually do, so thankfully, he doesn't see Levi face-plant into a lamppost as he stares after the green eyed beauty that has captured his heart.

Unfortunately for Levi, other people have noticed, but he doesn't really care. He attempts to hide behind the lamppost he's just walked into, in an attempt to watch Eren from afar, with his eyes glinting in excitement.

Is this a dream? Or is it some kind of joke?

Nah, April fool's was yesterday.

Only the biggest idiot would play a prank after midnight.

Since Eren's moving away from him, Levi has no choice but to tail him, and hide in alley entrances and behind an odd old woman or two. He can't possibly talk to Eren. He's too nervous. He can't just _talk_ to him, not after he made an idiot of himself last time. Hanji had reprimanded him, telling him that he'd definitely made Eren uncomfortable by being too close to him and using such a creepy chat up line.

Wait, _chat up line_?

No, he was just being honest. Eren's hair looked really fluffy, he wanted to touch it, and so he told him just that. According to Hanji, you just don't tell people things like that.

Through a throng of bustling people with shopping bags, briefcases and umbrellas (it _is _Scotland; no matter what stereotype there is, when there's grey clouds in the sky, you just don't take chances, not with this country) Levi soldiers one with his eyes trained on Eren's back, where he can just make out the slightest hint of a sweat stain alongside the small of his back.

From the corner of his eye, Levi sees an Italian looking man with freckles standing beside him, and he eyes Levi warily as he covers the microphone on his smart-phone with a cupped hand.

"I think there's a stalker following Eren." The man's brown eyes widen as he notices Levi looking at him. "He's got black hair and he's pretty short, think you can help me out? Send back-up in case he tries something? Thanks Jean."

There's someone following Eren?

A stalker?

Levi will kill them before they can take their mid-afternoon shit.

He walks directly over to Eren, grabbing his arm as he glares back at the freckled man who becomes incredibly flustered and worried, hurriedly speaking into his phone as he stares after him.

"Eren. We should go and get something to drink."

He pulls Eren by the shoulder towards the nearest coffee shop, looking over his shoulder for the stalker. Fuck that fucker. There's no way he's letting some skanky, shitfaced pervert chase after an innocent guy like Eren. The younger man yelps under his grip as they make their way through the door.

"What the FUCK?! Let GO of me! Oh my-"

Eren turns to face Levi. Somehow, Eren has this amazing ability to furrow his eyebrows and still have his turquoise eyes wide open at the same time.

"You-you're that dude from the other night at the bar, how did you even-"

There's a noise emitting from Eren's pocket, probably his phone, maybe a tracking device implanted by that weird freckled guy, but Levi doesn't let him go until they're both safe inside the shop. Eren digs inside his pocket, confusedly glimpsing at Levi while shifting from foot to foot, lingering beside the counter that Levi's now leaning on, and answers the call with an accent as strong as Levi remembers it from Sunday night.

"Hey, Marco? Yeah, I'm fine; I'm with this dude I know from… a couple of nights ago… Uh huh. No, I don't think he's, um, well he could be…"

Eren looks worriedly over to Levi with a hint of fear in his eyes. He must be worried about the stalker.

"But I think he should be alright. Yeah, I'll let you know. Tell Mikasa she doesn't need to have you guys keeping tabs on me. Sheesh, it was fucking one time you guys!"

Eren hangs up aggressively, which is pretty difficult to do with a touch-screen phone. It's quite impressive, really. He throws up his hands as he questions Levi.

"What the fuck?" He repeats as angrily as before. "Why'd you drag me into a shop? And by the way, I still have no idea who the hell you are-"

"There was a stalker chasing your heels, so I thought I might do you a favour and get you someplace safe. Or is that a bad thing to do? If so, I'm sorry for not providing you with a hot stalker date."

Eren doesn't reply, and looks outside guiltily. A woman behind the black, speckled counter asks them if they'd like to buy something, but Levi only indicates that he needs a minute and he guides Eren to a table with a hand to his shoulder, making Eren tense up under his touch.

They sit down at a clothed table in the quiet shop, and the same woman as before walks over to them, asking if they'd like a menu and this time Levi shoos her away with a hand gesture. She turns away with a huff (what a bad retail-service attitude) and Levi focuses on Eren with a blush tinting his cheeks.

"So why were you dancing to that one song on Sunday night? Everyone at your table was, and I think that that's more than just a coincidence."

It's been bugging him, so it feels good to ask.

Levi sits as far away from the table on his chair as he possibly can, knowing that if he sits too close again, he'll make Eren uncomfortable. Oh, and Hanji also mentioned the staring, which was also a little intimidating, apparently, so Levi stares down at the table.

The table is not that interesting, with all it's plain whiteness of the tablecloth, whereas Eren's entire being is colourful enough to keep him entertained for hours. Not that he'd know that it could keep him entertained for that long, seeing as he's only seen his face for less than fifteen minutes in total, including the time at the bar. But then again, he does _think_ about his face a lot…

Eren cocks his head to one side, as though he doesn't understand the question, but he answers it anyway.

"Um, that was our high school jam… We, like, listened to it on the last day and it cheered us up after crying all day. Not that I was. Crying, I mean. The girls were though. And Jean was, too. He's a total cry-baby. So… Yeah. What's your-"

"So you're at college now? University?"

Eren pauses before answering. "No… I'm actually a janitor; I'm on my way home from work, actually. I think I missed my bus, though, so I'm hoping Marco'll give me a lift back."

Levi looks up at him in surprise at the new fact, then sighs in disappointment.

"Well, I'd offer you a lift back to your house, but I don't have a car. Or a driver's license. Those things are so bloody expensive, you know that? I'm skint, and a pretty penny is hard to come by, especially since I'm only working as a cashier at the Pound Saver shop, down the road from here. You know the one; it's opposite the pub we met at. I mean, I probably would have been less broke if I'd gotten the promotion I wanted, but you know. Life sucks, and so on. Are you from Trost? You sound like you're from Trost. Everyone has the accent around these parts, and then you just hear me and all my Glaswegian glory."

Levi rolls his eyes as he mocks his own background that he hates with a passion, and hopes it shows. Because this is something that Eren needs to know, he can feel it.

Eren clamps his lips together, biting his lip from the inside and glances down at his lap, because he was texting while Levi was speaking. Multi-tasking. This guy is seriously such a good catch. And if he's a janitor, he must be good at cleaning, right? Levi likes it when they can clean.

For Levi, seeing Eren had been love at first sight, but today, he can totally understand the concept of falling more in love with a person each day. They just never fail to surprise you.

"I'm… I'm from Trost? No, I'm actually from Buckie… And compared to here, I actually have a really different accent. You're from Glasgow? That… might explain why you don't know, there must be less dialects around there... Wait, what were we talking about before?"

He's from Buckie? Even more surprises are being thrown at Levi. He's not one for spontaneity, but he loves all these unexpected facts.

Eren shifts in his seat, clearly becoming more confused by the second and the grimace in his expression becomes more prominent.

Levi shrugs his shoulders at Eren's question. "I don't actually remember, but at some point you wanted to know my name, and it's Levi."

"Levi…?"

"Yup."

"...What's your last name?"

"I don't know." He tells Eren indifferently.

He's been using "Levi Smith" on official documents, but he doesn't actually know what his last name is, and it's something he's never really cared to learn. What he would like to learn, however, is who the hell gave him the short gene. And he would also like to learn how he can force them into giving him a taller one.

Eren blinks at him owlishly and remains silent. Behind Eren's head, Levi can see the brown haired woman sending them dark scowls at the counter, so he motions her over and orders two waters. Jeez, the things he has to do to get people to leave him alone!

At least the water's free.

Free is good.

Sales are good, but free is just that much better.

That's always been his motto. When he had gone "shopping" through the markets when he was younger, he paid close attention to that motto. Everything is "free" if he thinks carefully about it.

Before the woman with their drinks can come over to their table, however, Eren checks his phone to find a message. From his sister, he tells Levi with an odd look on his face. Eren shakes his head with a heavy sigh while frowning down at the screen and Levi escorts him to the door, as that seems to be where he's heading.

The same freckled man as before meets Eren at the door; and as they walk away without saying goodbye. Levi follows them a little, and then realizes he probably shouldn't be attempting to go with them. Levi can hear Eren talking (it's kind of difficult not to).

"I swear he was trying to tell me his whole life-story, and I didn't even know his name. Hell, _he_ doesn't even know his own name!"

Levi really wishes that their first date had gone a bit better, but then again, it hadn't really been a date, had it? Levi had never officially asked him out, and he'd told Eren that he'd been helping him escape the wandering eyes of a stalker.

And they hadn't even gotten to drink anything together.

Eren doesn't like him. He left with his parting words not even being directed towards Levi. And from the sound of it, Levi hadn't left much of a good impression.

Levi walks back to Erwin's place after the incident and lays on the couch for a couple of minutes, before picking the calendar up from the coffee table in boredom, still feeling the need to record his encounter with Eren.

He had managed to look over the freckled guy's shoulder, Marco, was it? And sure enough, he saw Eren's contact information on his phone, plus a picture, but that had been too small to see it properly, though there was no mistaking those green eyes of Eren's.

He knows he's not that young, his life's an utter mess, but even he has some persistence in the things-the people- that are worth the effort.

In ballpoint pen, Levi writes inside the dated box of the lame calendar.

"_The day I got Eren__'__s number and almost had a date with him; he cheered me up after a crappy clinic appointment.__"_


	4. April 26th

The internet, it seems, deems it completely impossible for two complete strangers to ever fall in love. Or meet. Or even come across each other.

When Levi went to the local library two days ago, where there is free internet, (free is just that much better) he asked the internet: "How did the store clerk and janitor meet?" And there were no results. Or, well there were, but completely unrelated ones. Not even the fan fiction results gave him any ideas. But Levi totally didn't read those for inspiration. He's better than that. Or so he likes to think.

He can't do it. He can't find Eren, and he can't find a decent excuse to look him up in the phone book, or go around town looking for him (a tried and failed method. He also got scolded by Hanji for being a stalker), so he had resorted to the internet to find out how the hell a store clerk and a janitor could meet. Coincidently, of course.

Google says they just don't meet. Google says that love stories must always begin when the two destined lovers are forced together, whether through school, a club, work. A broken elevator. Being neighbours. Things like that. None of those options really work for Levi. He still doesn't know where Eren works. And he is sure as hell not joining a club.

Levi asked Erwin if he would hire Eren, make him clean the shop so that Levi could linger after work hours and talk to him.

Erwin said no.

Erwin is a bastard.

As a result of his bastard-ness, and what Levi likes to call Karma, Levi has been going on and on about Eren all morning since he woke up. If he feels like shit, then Erwin should suffer.

"Eren's eyes are soooo green."

"He has the most adorable and fucking ridiculous accent I've ever heard."

"Eren's the sexiest twenty one year old I've laid my eyes on. Guys in their early twenties are supposed to be cute, not sexy. But he's cute as well. I'm not sure how that works, but I'm pretty sure that Eren Jaeger is a number of paradoxes, and the universe has to bend around his being for anything to make sense."

"He has a two coloured haired frenemy. I bet they're secretly best friends, but only when they have to be."

"Eren can multitask. He's fucking perfect."

"His work clothes are a polo shirt and joggers with holes. I attempted to take him out to get something to drink. It _almost_ went _well_. That's the _best_ that any _almost-date _I've ever been on has gone." Levi throws an arm over his face to hide the blush crawling onto his cheeks, even though Erwin can't see him. His mouth twitches into the smallest of smiles.

"Eren has the best vocabulary I've ever heard, except mine. We're totally neck and neck in the language department."

"He says his high school jam was Fitz and the Tantrums. And that a boy called Jean cried on the last day, and the girls, but he said he didn't. I don't think I believe him."

"He looks cute when he's confused, goes all red and everything. Even the tips of his ears." Levi can feel the giddiness bouncing around in him again, making him remember his first meeting with Eren and how he fell in love at first sight, something he never believed in at all. Until Eren, that is.

"Eren is a brunette, and brown is now a fully appreciated colour, because I make up for everyone's lack of enthusiasm for the colour brown. Why don't more people like brown. Brown is trees. Brown is chocolate. Brown is Eren's hair and eyelashes and eyebrows. He has really bushy eyebrows, but not quite as fluffy as yours, Erwin. Eren's hair is fluffy. I haven't touched it, but I can tell that it is."

"He has a sister called Mikasa, she keeps tabs on him. And he has a freckled friend called Marco. I reckon that Marco is part of the mafia, because he looks Italian and I don't trust Italian men that don't smoke cigars in public or don't speak with the accent. It's not natural. Eren has an odd taste in friends."

"Eren Jaeger supports Rangers, and I am okay with that."

Levi is laying restlessly on his couch -yes, he's taking over the couch; it's now called Levi's Leather Love Seat, and he's the only one that can say it right the first time around- with his head resting on the armrest. He calls out his list of Eren's Tidbits to Erwin in the kitchen, who's sitting at the table eating a bacon roll. He's trying to ignore Levi but it's a little hard when Levi is talking so loudly.

Levi doesn't like bacon, his nose crinkles at the smell wafting into the living room. He probably isn't going to eat brunch. When it's eleven in the morning, a meal at that time is called brunch. It is eleven oh two in the morning. The name will still do.

"Eren is a janitor. He cleans, Erwin, he CLEANS. That makes me happy. Why aren't you happy with me. Erwin. Erwin Smith. Smith. Smithy. Mum. Mother. Mummy."

"Levi," Erwin's deep voice whines back at him, the sound echoing through the kitchen. "Shut uuup."

Erwin may look big and scary, but in reality; he's an oversized baby. A man-child. Or rather, the opposite: he's like the mother that Levi never had. Levi's man-mother. "Dad" doesn't quite fit the bill because Erwin nags too much. There's that, and the fact that he insists on picking Levi up from work like Levi's some kid at primary school.

"You sound like you're reading out a report. I seriously don't understand how you can ramble like a love sick teenager and sound so goddamn serious at the same time."

Levi lifts his arm off his face, frowning up at the white ceiling. "I've never been more serious in my life." He pauses for a moment. "I've only ever been this serious one other time in my life. Maybe two. One of those times being when I told you that I didn't want to go here with you. I could've went myself, even if it were only to find Eren."

Dishes clatter, and Levi knows that Erwin has haphazardly left his oily dishes to sit and be very unclean in the kitchen sink. Where they will grow mould. If there's anything he hates most; it's mould. Erwin's back hair is also on that list, but he tries not to think about that too much.

"Go do your dishes." he spits at Erwin.

"It's your turn to do your dishes."

"I don't _have_ any dishes."

"That might be true, but I can't be assed cleaning and I know you can. I can see you brimming with your Anticipation To Clean. It makes your hair glow ever so slightly purple. Blue, if you're outside."

Levi's GP has told him that he doesn't have OCD. However, his cleaning habits are pretty remarkable, so Erwin has devised a new name so that he can make fun of him for it; ATC. And he does make fun of him for it. Far too often.

"I'll clean them with your tongue. I'm not the one who's going to be using them again, after all." he deadpans.

Levi isn't sure the last time he used a plate, as opposed to a cup for tea or a can of food.

Levi isn't sure of the last time he ate a decent meal, if ever.

In the end, Levi ended up forgetting Eren's phone number. He's only human, things like memory loss happen, but it's still bad. Because what if Levi is told about Eren's birthday, and he forgets when it is? He goes to Survey each night, the pub where they met, in the hopes of being like the guy from The Script and his song The Man who Can't Be Moved, but the sad thing is, is that Levi doesn't even own a sleeping bag, so he'd have to change the lyrics a fair amount.

"_People hand me money, they don't understand, I might be broke -feel free to give me cash- but right now I'm a very love sick, stalker-ish man."_

One day, Levi is going to have to tell Eren about his parody. He really hopes he remembers to. But first he has to deal with being kicked out the bar each night because he stays too late, each night leaving him more and more depressed, though it's not because of the music that isn't Fitz and the Tantrums or because of the alcohol in his system.

Today though, Levi has to go to work -thank god his shift is at one in the afternoon- and he has the worst headache. His joints are also stiff from having to sleep on a couch for three months and so.

He misses his swivel chair in the Gorbals. He'd read books and had fallen asleep with his clothes still on while sitting on it. That red swivel chair was one of the few things that had given him quiet joy in the slums of his childhood.

So he goes behind the till, wearing his uniform consisting of a t-shirt with the store's logo. He only works part time, so he gets to leave at five in the evening. Brilliant. Because four hours of constant scanning beeps isn't going to do his head in.

He gets bored after an hour of slow business and the most recent customer had been in a hurry to leave after seeing his tired face. Levi has been told he looks even scarier when he's tired, and he likes this fact. No-one else is on shift for the rest of the day, so he doesn't have anyone else to intimidate, much to his disappointment. He straightens out the newspapers to his left on the counter, and he restocks the promotional sweets on his right. Oh, there's a sign that's gone wonky. He fixes that too. It isn't OCD. He's just bored. He just has ATC.

At three in the afternoon, his eyes are beginning to droop. He must've stayed out too long last night at Survey, and Hanji had kept him up with a lecture. Doesn't Levi know not to try to seek people out? Doesn't he know that he has to be responsible and go to bed on time? He would, Hanji, but sometimes life is hard on him. And so are his friends with their useless lectures.

He finishes growling "Have a nice day" at the customer buying a fuck ton of Pepsi and rubs at his eyes, where bags are growing heavier and his face is paler than it usually is. He's about to fall asleep at the blue speckled counter, with one arm keeping his head up as he leans onto a hand and damn it's the perfect way to fall asleep when suddenly:

"HOLY SHIT. There are Mars Bars' for thirty pence here. NOBODY sells Mars Bars' for thirty pence. That's insane. And coke. Why are there cans of coke for forty-five pence. Most places do it for eighty. I think I found my new favourite store."

Sure enough, a man with brown hair and bright green eyes walks towards the counter to buy his armfuls of sweets. And coke. Can't forget the forty-five pence coke. Eren is so busy grinning at his piles of sweets he's cradling that he doesn't notice Levi behind the till. He looks up with a smile, looking adorable in his navy blue hoodie and bleached jeans, then the smile drops and so does the entire pile of sweets that he's holding. His pile tumbles down to the floor with a loud clatter that wakes Levi up completely. Eren yelps in fear.

Eren runs out the store, and Levi is wondering what the hell he should do now, because right now he's just being frozen from Eren's sudden arrival, and that's not that useful. He should pick up Eren's mess. He hops over the counter, not bothering to use the gate because he swears he can never find it, and collects all the things in a big bundle that looks much bigger in his arms than it did in Eren's. Then again, Eren is taller than him. His arms are bigger. His dick probably is too-

Levi raises an eyebrow as Eren sheepishly comes back into the store, guiltily grimacing as he sees Levi picking up the items. He runs fingers through his hair, and the threads flop back into their previous place.

"S-sorry about that, I didn't expect to see you here… It sort of feels like I'm seeing you everywhere I go."

Levi knows that that is definitely not true.

"I live in the area; it's to be expected, right?" He says casually, plopping the massive pile of sweets onto the counter so he can scan them. Assuming that Eren still wants them. He glances back at Eren and his breath hitches, his insides tingling from giddiness.

Levi shakes his head in wonder, clearing his throat. "Why on earth do you have so many sweets?" Leaving the pile on the counter, he turns to face Eren, leaning against the counter edge with two hands reaching behind him.

Eren pats his stomach proudly. "I'm a growing boy. I need to keep up my strength." he grins.

Levi scoffs at him. "Tch. Last time I heard, you were twenty one. Boys stop growing when they're eighteen." Will Eren be impressed with his biology facts? Who knows?

"Well, you're just annoyed because you stopped growing at twelve."

Levi glares back at Eren. His mouth is half open at the insult, and as soon as Eren sees his glower he visibly steps back, but starts to laugh. That is, until Levi starts marching towards him and Eren sprints out the store again, swearing while still laughing.

On the middle of the path on the street, it looks as though Levi is going to hit Eren, with the way Eren crouches and hides his face like a child playing hide and seek. Of course, he doesn't, and instead chooses to bash him playfully on the shoulder.

"That was uncalled for." he snaps haughtily at Eren.

Eren laughs nervously, peeking through his hands, still crouching slightly. "Okay okay, don't make height jokes around you. Jesus, you're scary."

They go back inside, and Eren tells him how he found a tenner outside the shop, which is why he could afford to spend almost that amount on sweets. As he's scanning and packing the bags, Levi finds himself staring at Eren, no longer really paying attention to what he's saying. Levi has missed that face. And with the way he's smiling at him, just like he did that first night; it makes his eyelids droop lovingly and his chest throb with warmth.

Levi is Eren's whether he knows it or not.

He gulps and forgets himself in amidst his own flustered response to the feeling of Eren's fingers on his when he passes him the change, and then the bag. This is going to be goodbye, the moment he lets go. It took him this long just to find Eren again, and he might never do so after this. Eren frowns at him, trying to take the bag from him.

An idea strikes him, one that actually has some evidence to back it up if it's questioned. It's clever, and Levi is rarely clever around Eren.

"Hey Eren," Levi likes how his name feels in his lips. "There's a chance of winning an IPad if you enter the store competition, it's advertised on the receipt. If you want to enter, you just have to give us your phone number, and we'll tell you if you've won."

That was smooth. That was the smoothest he's ever been in his life. Eren tugs on the bag in their hands.

"I'm not sure-"

"It's free. Why would you say no to a free IPad."

Eren sighs and Levi knows he has won him over.

This time, Levi has Eren's number in his phone, he's memorized it -just in case- and if Eren asks him why he has his number, Levi can easily tell him he simply remembered it from when Eren read it out to him. Oh, but he doesn't need to worry about Levi handing out his personal information. Eren's sloppy signature at the bottom of the competition sheet confirmed that Levi's store wasn't allowed to do that.

Surely, surely he has an excuse to text or call him now? Hanji isn't in their apartment complex. He's safe. For now. And without him around, Levi can do what he wants without being lectured.

When he's back on his usual spot on the couch, he finds his old flip phone- having refused to allow Erwin buy him a more modern one- and presses the button to dial Eren's number.

"Hey," he says when Eren picks up, leaning forward on the couch. "I was wondering if you-"

"If you are hearing this, then you could leave me a message? Yeah, uh, go for."

It's not what Levi was looking for, but damn, even hearing the guy's voice on his voice mail has his heart soaring and makes him bite his lip in excitement. Then the beep stops. It's recording him. He doesn't know why he called. He just wanted to call Eren. This was a bad idea. He needed to have a reason, what's his reason? Reason?

"H-hey Eren, I was, I was wondering you go you like- Wait, I mean, I was wondering you go to my house? Erwin's house? Erwin's my room, friend, uh we're having movie a night with our other friend plural… and stuff… I'll, um, text you the address?" he realizes that Eren might think he wants to talk to him about the competition, and his articulation improves.

"Sorry; this isn't to say you won the IPad. But it'd be good if you did. It could be useful, maybe not for your work, but you know. The games on it are not bad. I hear it has a decent camera too and-"

The voicemail finishes, and cuts him off. Thank god it did, otherwise he'd end up rambling and going off on a tangent like an absolute moron.

When he hangs up on his end, he sees that his hands are trembling from nerves, he's gone bright red from having to talk and not knowing what to say, and yet somehow; he's never been happier.

Levi falls back onto his black leather couch, dropping his phone onto the carpeted floor. He sighs shakily. Erwin's gone out, he won't be back until later tonight, and he's going to have to tell him to invite everyone around so they can have a movie night. If Eren wants to come, that is. He hopes so. He really, really hopes so. Because he's not sure at all what would happen if he lost contact with Eren all over again.

As he reassures himself that the knife is still where he left it on the couch by his pillow, he sees the calendar sitting on the coffee table, as though it's waiting for him to open it and squeeze out his feelings onto the glossy paper through writing.

The ball point pen is also beside the calendar, untouched. It isn't rare for Erwin to leave things lying around, but suddenly Levi is very, very glad that Erwin left this calendar to his disposal. He reads over the last two dates he wrote in, and even though they are spaced out in terms of time; it was all so worth the wait.

"_The day he came to my work to buy sweets was when I knew that Eren Jaeger could have _my _candy any day he likes. And he will, if he comes to the movie night. Because I will share my packet of Haribo with him."_


	5. April 27th part one

He's really done it this time. He's had two chances, and he's ruined it the second time around.

Hanji must've been right about Levi seeming like a stalker. He probably should've listened when Hanji told him that people "just don't say things like that".

Levi has been up all night, missing out on his usual two or three hours of sleep.

Waiting for the phone call. Or text message. From Eren, of course.

It's not like there's a bed waiting for him anyway. He needs no sleep. Though with the tiredness showing up on his face in the form of bags, he wishes he'd at least rested his eyes, even if he couldn't go to sleep.

Today, Levi has a shift at four o'clock, which is beyond stupid; because it's a Sunday and people stay in on Sundays. Don't they? Maybe shopping life in Trost is different. He's only been here three months or so, he's allowed to still not know the culture of this crappy town.

He sits with Erwin in his car, a sleek black Porche that definitely would've gotten torn to bits if they were still in Glasgow. He got it two months ago, and Levi is still mad about the purchase. It's just Erwin showing off how much he can afford, and flaunts it in front of Levi by giving him lifts to his work-their work- where Erwin yet again flaunts his privileges.

They haven't really spoken this morning. Levi's been tense and grouchy, and since Erwin knows about the knife beside his pillow on the couch, he's kind of gotten the idea that Levi isn't the sort of person you console when he's mad.

Levi sulks into the edge of the door, glaring at the outside world with all it's grey skies and grey streets and grey pavements like it's done something bad to him. The world sucks, it really does.

But then again, if the world didn't suck, everyone would just fall off.

"Levi… You know, you can talk to me about anything that's bothering you." Erwin says, almost conversationally.

Levi sits in silence, and some sort of quietly burning anger is boiling up inside of him. Because even though Erwin isn't the reason for his stewing today, that's not to say he isn't every other day.

And just because he lives with this guy (unwillingly) that doesn't mean he should automatically share all his hopes and dreams and fears, or tell him things like 'I took a nice shit this morning'. Because he thinks that if he had a best friend-a real best friend- he would tell them exactly what he thinks of his own shit. He's not really sure why he would, but apparently it's a guy thing.

"I tried calling Eren. You were right. I must've scared him off."

The car is stopped as they reach a red light. He's not sure why he's telling Erwin this, but maybe he deserves to know, just so he knows it's not his fault, and because Levi may have spent a lot of time rambling about him to Erwin. So Erwin should always be updated. That might actually work to Levi's advantage… It annoys the hell out of Erwin, and Levi can improve his "social skills". Plus; when is Eren not a good topic of conversation?

Erwin glances over at him, caressing the gear stick in his fist. "Eren? As in the "I'm obsessed with him and over analyse every second we have together" Eren?"

"Who else?"

"Wait… You didn't get his phone number from some phone book, did you?" Erwin makes a pained face. "Because I know you don't really get out much, but doing things like that is just… And the things you say to him are the weirdest things ever-"

"No, Erwin. I got it from him."

Erwin pauses, tilting his head to one side. He starts driving again as the light goes green, and Levi can see his work around the corner of the next building. He raises his eyebrows in mild surprise, with maybe a hint of admiration.

"Really? I never thought you had game. Nice. Maybe I should learn a lesson from you."

Levi scoffs at him. "Tch. That's hypocritical, taking into account about what you said earlier-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. That might be true, but you must be doing something right… I just wonder what the hell you did to get his number."

Levi doesn't say anything. Even though he knows that Erwin knows that he probably gained it by some illicit method (Erwin's fantasies get away with him sometimes, especially since he knows Levi was a gang leader. That was unintentionally, but he was one, even so). But a competition letter isn't illegal, so Levi will be fine. Unless Hanji comes and snoops around. But even then, fear not: Levi has hidden the letter under the couch pillow.

A few hours later and they're both in the workplace. Erwin also has his shift on today, due to the manager going out of town last night. Thankfully, he's got a shit ton of paperwork to do, so he stays away from Levi in his office. Levi is at the blue counter, and he is still in a bad mood. One where he wishes he could strangle someone.

He's standing beside a mousy haired guy with a constantly terrified looking face called Moblit. At first, Levi thought it was him that made Moblit scared, but Erwin told him he was just always like that. Maybe if the guy grew some eyebrows then he wouldn't look like he was always raising his eyebrows in fear.

Today, Moblit looks especially scared, though that might be due to the fact that Levi keeps staring him down whenever he catches Moblit trying to look at him. Moblit must be bored. He must want someone to talk to. But he and Levi aren't friends, just co-workers.

And Levi doesn't do small talk.

Levi doesn't really do much other than clean, but he finds he can't really do it in Erwin's house because… Well, it's Erwin's house. It's not his to clean. There are personal items that are Erwin's, and he's not allowed to touch them even if the blonde hulk of a man leaves them lying around.

He needs this shift to end. They've only got fifteen minutes left. What the point in staying if they don't even have any customers? There's one that Moblit's serving, with just a packet of sponges and some toothpaste, but customers like that just go as quickly as they come.

True; Erwin might have been right about Levi lacking social skill, but despite his appearance and sour attitude to pretty much everything; he'd actually love to have a regular customer as a starting point to help him improve. He doesn't do well with strangers, and isn't that the case for most people anyway? Why does his employer expect him to instantly be able to talk to people upon meeting them?

Tch. He missed out, that employer man. His business could've soared if Levi was in Erwin's place.

He tugs a strand of black hair in his fringe, thinking about how he's definitely going to have another shower after he goes back to Erwin's place.

The suddenly, as though he'd been coming to the Pound Saver shops for weeks, Eren walks in with his head held high. Though that changes when he sees Levi. Again. But this time he doesn't run, so that had to be a plus, right? (it shouldn't have even been a problem in the first place)

Oh wow. His mood has suddenly raised through the roof.

Eren gives him a small, flat smile, then briskly walked past the tills at the front of the shop to go to the sweet aisle, clearly on a mission. Levi feels the heat on his face rise as he watches Eren from behind. Dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. Working class clothes, like always. Levi's breathing hitches when he sees Eren's picturesque profile as he rakes the shelves for sweets. Does he always look so angry? Levi felt his body shiver.

He shivered again when he saw bright green eyes looking back into his grey ones.

"I got a message last night. That was you, wasn't it." Eren tells him accusingly, still having not decided on what sweet to get, if any. Levi nods at his statement.

"You must've had a really bad reception, because it sounded a little disjointed."

Levi nods again, suddenly embarrassed about not being able to use his voice, about the things he said before on the rushed phone call.

"And I didn't have any credit, so I couldn't call you back, sorry."

Levi's gaze is averted when he sees the clock has turned to seven o'clock. His shift is over. Eren is providing a reason for him to leave. Eren is accepting his invitation.

"Although I'm wondering-"

"Wait right there, I'm just going to dump my uniform round back."

Levi sprints to where his locker is in the cold, garage-like staff room with stone grey walls. As he turns the key that he got from his small stash on his belt. He's buzzing. He's bouncing too, and that makes it a little hard to fumble with the back of his uniform string and get the damn thing off so he can get back to Eren and his green eyed glory.

Green eyes. Brown hair. A face of pure gold. Eyebrows that like to furrow, and a perfectly kissable, pink little mouth that sometimes twitches into a sweet, boyish smile. Levi hasn't ever seen a face quite like it before.

When he gets back, he hops over the counter like he's some kind of rabbit. Though he won't let anyone know how much he actually loves jumping over it, because they'd make fun of his height (not to his face, unless they don't know better). He grabs Eren's wrist and takes them both outside, where he knows Erwin is in his car by now. He's a punctual person, and it's about the only thing that Levi likes about him.

Eren yelps, and Levi thinks he can hear him saying "not again". They stop just before the car park, and Eren looks like he's going to (try to) tear Levi's face off.

"Dude! You can't just go about dragging me like that!" Eren's skin is inflamed bright pink where Levi pulled him.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't hurt you did I?" he rubs at the skin on Eren's wrist tentatively. What if Eren is sensitive to touch? He leaps back. What if, what if he has personal space issues or maybe he has OCD and hates dirty people-

Eren places a hand on his shoulder. It's warm, and suddenly Levi forgets his panic and melts into the touch with his heart beating much, much louder. He gulps as Eren stares him down, towering above him.

"Why… Why did you call me yesterday? I got the most random voicemail and I couldn't even understand it. And how did you- Oh. Wait. I gave you my number on that sheet. Right. Right…" Eren takes his hand away, still looking at Levi intensely.

Levi finds himself almost looking away. He's never been good with maintaining eye contact.

"I was trying to invite you to my house. My friend's house. We're… having a movie night." He shuffles his feet, looking down at them with a straight face.

His shoulders sag. "I'm sorry if I appear a little… odd. I've been told by my friends that I come across a little too forward at times, but I've got no harmful intentions, I swear."

He raises both palms to face Eren. If there's anything he's learnt, it's that his body language speaks much better than he ever will.

"I'm not trying to win you over with a sob story, but you said you'd talk to me, right? I'd like that."

Eren raises an eyebrow at him curiously. "You remember our conversation from my birthday?"

Levi's eye widen as he realizes with a skip in his heart that it means Eren remembered too. "Yeah, I was-"

"You must've been really drunk. You said some really weird stuff."

He'd been about to say "I was being serious when I said I wanted to touch your hair" but right around now, Hanji's advice will probably come in handy.

"I was drunk." Levi doesn't get drunk. "Very, very drunk."

He puts a hand on Eren's shoulder, mirroring his action from before. "So, you want to come to our place and watch movies?"

The car journey there is painful on Levi behalf.

"…" Erwin takes every opportunity to look over at him with either a smug smile or an "I can't believe you're actually bringing this guy home" smile. Maybe even a "I'm going to torture you about this later, and you fucking know it" smile.

His shoulders shake with silent laughter, and Levi is glad that Eren can't see Erwin's stupid face from behind the driver's seat.

Laugh all you want Erwin; but you don't even know why the guy's even in the car.

"Whereabouts do you guys live?" Eren pipes up from the back, because Levi has yet to discover how small talk works. He's trying, desperately so, but he can't think of anything to say, of what he should talk about, but this is a good start.

Levi opens his mouth to speak, and Erwin interrupts him. "In the industrial estate." Levi gives him a side glare, but Erwin doesn't flinch. Erwin is bastard.

"Oh, you mean in the new flats? I heard those were really expensive. Are you renting them?"

Along the way, Levi learns that Eren lives in the three storey flats up beside the River Maria. It's in a flood zone so it's pretty damn cheap, but the flood prevention programme that the government is wasting it's money on makes it really noisy outside his window. He lives with his brother and sister; Armin (apparently a "real smart dude") and Mikasa. Levi sends him a knowing glance when he starts talking and talking about how Mikasa is overly protective.

Since it's only a five minute drive, they have to stop mid conversation, and Levi wishes it could've never stopped. When you get Eren talking; he talks. His voice is mellow and musical. Both of those facts combined make Eren the perfect person to listen to, so much so that he's better than the radio, and much better than whatever shit is on the UK top 40. Normally Levi hates talkers, but this guy is obviously an exception. Maybe the only one.

Erwin pulls up in the parking space outside the wood panelled flat, and when Levi looks back in his seat, Eren looks a lot happier, more relaxed, than he was outside the store.

"This place looks really nice." Eren smiles, looking at the building through the window. Levi goes around to his door to open it, giving him a discreet smile of his own. (Levi loves being a gentlemen; he finds that out right there and then.)

"You look relieved." he says when Eren's outside the car.

Eren laughs, deep and right from the gut.

"I guess I am, I was expecting some kind of run down place with broken windows and graffiti everywhere. Some places in Trost are like that, but they're never really too bad. Not like the places in uh, say… Glasgow or Aberdeen. Yeah, although Armin once loved in Forres and he said that was terrible, like, not the town but the place he was living in and-"

He stops suddenly, and looks at Levi as they make their way inside to the yellow walled interior of the building. Their footsteps echo in the stairwell as they climb to the second floor.

"Wow. Sorry. I have a habit of turning a conversation into a one sided speech, you can tell me to stop talking if I get annoying." he smiles bashfully, running fingers through his hair.

He jumps a little when Levi gets closer to him, so that they're shoulders are brushing. The adam's apple in his neck bobs when Levi laughs quietly through his nose, with his mouth turned upwards at one corner. People like Eren… normally when people say things like that, Levi wants to wring their throat out because unless he snaps at them to shut up, they just keep talking.

But- and the fizzing feeling inside his stomach confirms this- he really likes it when Eren talks. It's better than him not being there at all, and it's damn fine to listen to him, or space out and pretend you're listening to him, when really you're just tuning out and looking at the shapes his mouth makes and wondering how they'd feel against your own lips and wondering what kind of "oh" shape they make when he-

"I don't mind you talking. It's nice to listen to. I bet you sing in the shower. Do you? I bet so. What else do you do in the shower? You know, some people mastur-" He cuts himself off, face burning while he mumbles for Eren to ignore him, whilst the latter chuckles uncomfortably.

He covers his mouth with the back of his hand. That's not good. He'll end up scaring him away again, and he just managed to get him inside his house-not his, yeah, but he also happens to live there-and…

Why is he clinging onto a complete stranger?

What is it about this guy that just makes him want to hold on so badly?

He can't hold a conversation with the guy, he's too nervous in his presence-Eren's kind of scared of him and thinks he's weird-and he doesn't really know Eren. Knowing what he looks like is just superficial (in Eren's case, he's "super-facial" because he's hot enough to star in one of Levi's rare pun jokes)

When they walk into their flat, Mike and Hanji are already there, playing Erwin's x-box. Ah. Levi needs to fix that.

"Oi, Shitty glasses. Beak. We're watching movies. Get your asses off that game console."

By some miracle; they do just that, and unplug the x-box from the mains without a word. Then Mike looks up to face them, peers in their direction slightly, and behind Levi, Eren squeaks.

"Michael?!" That's a name he hasn't heard before…

Mike's quite a shy person, so it comes as a surprise to Levi when he suddenly breaks into a huge smile and dumps the x-box controller in favour of making his way to Eren.

"You! I thought I recognised you! How're you doing? Ah, man, I just… God, I've got so much to ask you!" Mike not so subtly leans down to smell him, then smirks to himself. Eren doesn't seem to mind.

"Same!" Eren beams up at him. His eyes are glowing in the shady, curtain closed flat. "Why are you here, though?"

Mike stoops down from his height to hug Eren.

Levi wants to tell them no. He wants to pull them apart, instinctually, and his fingers are suddenly restless by his sides. It's just a friendly hug, but WHY is there a friendly hug between Mike and Eren?

"I ended up-"

"You guys know each other?" Levi folds his arms with his eyes narrowed in Mike's direction. Mike knows how he feels. He should know, at least.

Mike and Eren turn to look at him, as though they suddenly realize that they are still in company. They pull away, still wearing smiles.

"Mike was my therapist a little while back, when I was thirteen." he turns back to Mike. "Though that was in Buckie. Then he moved down to England to be with his girlfriend?"

Mike shrugs, and it's as though he's an entirely different person Levi knew from the usual staggeringly tall mop of blonde hair. Even past his huge nose, Levi can see him smiling and behind his fringe, his eyes glint happily.

"I moved back up after it didn't work out with her. I didn't know you knew about her..?"

"You introduced us at that music festival? You know, the one in Findhorn?"

Levi takes a sharp intake of air and goes to sit down on the couch. Hanji looks up at him, still trying to put away the tangled consoles and x-box.

As it turns out, Eren's voice seems much more worth listening to when it's talking to him.

"Hey Levi, people don't just randomly take people home. You didn't kidnap him, did you?" Hanji peers up at him from the floor, squinting into his glasses.

"People don't usually throw tables and chairs when they're angry, and yet there you are." he sneers.

A phone rings, and Eren pulls out his phone from his pocket, lifting it to his ear as he presses answer.

"…Aw what? You can't do that! I live there too y'know! I haven't got anywhere else to go!" Eren gestures angrily as he speaks. He cups his hand over the microphone.

"I don't suppose you guys could let me stay over here tonight? My roommate's kicking me out because he's got "company" pfft. Like that idiot could ever get laid. Uh, can I stay, please?"


	6. April 27th part two

_I got told I was going OOC, thanks for that! Hopefully I've fixed that. Enjoy~_

* * *

The worst thing about sharing a house with Erwin-having to sleep on the couch, on top of that-is that Levi doesn't have a room to himself. Therefore; Mike is there with him, alone, in the living room while Erwin and Eren go and get Eren's sleepover stuff (he's internally screaming at that) and Hanji's upstairs cooking curry.

Levi eyes the calendar on the coffee table. He glances warily at Mike, with all his shaggy haired glory. Mike is looking back at him with an equally bored expression. He might peak Mike's interest if he makes a move to hide it.

Fuck it.

He takes the calendar and lifts the couch cushion, placing the calendar underneath. Mike doesn't question his actions, or even raise an eyebrow at his behaviour. Good. Levi has trained him well.

Levi weaves his fingers through his black hair, is about to say something to Mike, maybe something normal like "how was your day". Levi doesn't really care about his day. And when Mike talks, he gives relatively short answers. He's succinct, which Levi likes, but it doesn't make for good conversation. Basically; there's no point in talking to Mike.

Instead, Levi leaves Mike to fend for himself and goes for a shower. If Mike looks under the couch and at the calendar; he fully knows what the consequences will be; the knife under Levi's pillow on the couch is there for a reason, after all.

He slips into the bathroom; it's white, clean with basic bathroom things and has fluffy white towels on the silver rack. He dumps a towel on the closed toilet seat and turns on the shower.

It isn't until he's halfway finished showering, the water having relaxed him with its cosy heat, then he remembers the dumb thing he almost said to Eren.

"_You know, some people masturbate in the shower. Quite frankly, I think it's pretty fucking revolting."_

Levi only takes three minutes under the stream of water, usually, but… something in his lower body is telling him to ignore his own beliefs and just let himself jerk it in the shower. Maybe imagine Eren pressed up against the pristine white tiles-clean, courtesy of Levi- imagine how he'd pant and whimper loudly, but the roar of the water would be too loud for anyone to hear them…. He shivers at the thought.

But Mike's in the other room.

And it's a little disturbing to know that after jerking off, he'll only come face to face with another person-whether or not it's Eren doesn't make much of a difference-after he's done such a deed in the bathroom.

…

Levi doesn't really want anyone but Eren to see what he looks like post-orgasm. He's gone limp just from thinking about cleaning up his own cum off the tiles. Thinking about how Mike will look at him oddly after having taken such a long time in the shower. He'd know exactly what Levi had been doing, too.

Levi decides against the whole thing and settles with lathering his body with soap as quickly as he can.

When he returns to the living room, all dried and in new clothing from his stash in Erwin's room, Mike blinks owlishly at him. His thin, blonde moustache twitches curiously. But he doesn't say anything.

The shorter man sighs, reluctantly going to join Mike on the couch-his couch, that's been invaded by a blonde giant-and turns the T.V on.

Wow. Reality TV has never been so… boring and superficial. He flicks through the channels-Erwin has Sky HD-and finds a channel in the movie section to watch.

"How about we watch a horror movie?"

Normally people watch horror movies on the first date, right?

Though, Eren is only coming over because he got kicked out, and having a crowd of non-friends with them… yeah that cancels out the date idea. They're just friends. If they can even be called that. Apparently, you have to know more than just their name to be a person's friend. He wants to know more about Eren, but that comes with time. He shakes his head, ignoring Mike's grunt of 'I don't really care either way' and programs the TV so that it alerts them when 'Robocop' comes on. Levi lets his mind wander, and eventually comes across Mike's face, and sees a small smile tugging at Mike's lips as he folds his long legs onto the couch.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Eh, just seeing Eren again. He's a really good kid, haven't seen him for years, y'know?"

Mike looks up towards the T.V, a little more interested with the channel that's on. Some BBC documentary about monkeys fucking or some shit. Levi leans against the back of the cushion, putting an arm onto the edge out of habit.

"Why did Eren need therapy?"

Mike pauses, and shakes his head with a low hum. "I can't tell you, sorry Levi." He smirks over at the smaller man. "I guess you'll just have to ask your boyfriend yourself."

Levi instantly feels the heat crawl up his neck and face. "He's not my boyfriend." He knows for a fact that his blush doesn't show on his face, but makes him look angrier instead.

Mike frowns at him, amusement playing on his face as his eyebrow quirks. "I thought you asked him out that night at the bar?"

"Nah, I just told him I liked his hair and that I wanted to talk to him. He had to go to his friends though. You were there, didn't you see?"

"… Aye. But well, I never heard the whole conversation, just Hanji's comments." Mike lowers his voice carefully. "Now you've got me wondering… How the hell did you get him here?"

"I invited him."

"And he came over just like that?"

"Well. He came to the store, he ran away when he saw my face-"

"_Why_?"

Levi growls at the interruption. "I saved him from a stalker and we sort of spoke in a shop, though I don't think he enjoyed it. Anyway, he ran away, and then I gave him the store competition form to fill out-getting his phone number off the sheet. He came into the store again, I invited him here, and presto; here he is. Or will be. If Erwin hurries the fuck up."

Mike just stares at him, with blue eyes as wide as the ocean and shaking his head as though he's been told he's going to die tomorrow. "Levi, taking personal information from a form is illegal-"

"And yet here he is."

"Because you forced him!"

Levi frowns at him. "No, I-"

"Levi," Mike looks him directly in the eye. "I've seen how you approach people, as rare as it happens. And… I don't think you realize just how creepy you're being."

"I did apologize for that. And he came here by his own free will. Erwin made sure of that." After many questions and glares at Levi while doing so before even letting the kid in the car. Yet, Erwin still didn't know why Eren had come over.

With a heavy sigh, Mike slouches into the couch, putting his feet back on the ground. "At least he knows me. That must've come as a relief to him."

All of a sudden, Hanji with a number of bowls, Erwin and Eren with a small overnight bag hugging his shoulder come into the flat and immediately take up more room. Levi's eyes lock on Eren, and he can't really pull his gaze away.

Levi finds himself almost missing the seclusion of his house in Calton. He'd pretty much lived alone, and he isn't used to being in a room with so many people for long, seeing as Erwin usually invites his friends out.

Mike and Hanji have their ways of invading his privacy when Erwin invites them around, which is becoming more often since he's given them a spare key so they can play the x-box when he's out. Mike invades his privacy by smelling him upon arrival and taking up too much space with his legs and hovering presence, and Hanji does as well by asking Levi too many questions and talking Way. Too. Much. To the point where Levi wants to strangle the Irish man.

'Gotta love the Irish'? Fuck that noise. Levi has met one and he is hell to be around.

Hanji bustles around the kitchen, finding plates for everyone to eat their curry on. Erwin and Eren come into the living room, moving to sit on the other couch next to Levi's.

Levi doesn't like the other leather couch and usually refuses to acknowledge that it exists. Erwin had once thrown up on it-in front of him-after drinking too much one night. Levi never learnt why Erwin had drunk so much, but then again, he was too busy fuming over the vomit to really care.

Erwin takes the bag from Eren to keep it safely in his room with a small grin and a waggle of his eyebrows, and Levi wanders over to the other couch, slapping his arm onto the edge behind him. Eren jumps and Levi can actually see him cower away from him, can smell the fear igniting Eren's being.

"Eren, do you hate me? I invited you around, but you don't need to feel pressured to stay. Mike told me I'm creepy." he does his best to keep his voice gentle.

Eren gives a small smile, though his eyebrows are still creased in fear and Levi can hear his breathing hitch. "I-I don't mind! I don't hate you, and you're not _that_ creepy. I got to see Mike again, and… as it turned out, I needed someplace to stay anyway. Besides… I always keep my promises." he finishes with a determined grin.

So basically; Eren is an idiot. He is really sweet and madly endearing, but fairly stupid.

Levi leans back slightly, feeling his lips curve upwards slightly. "Good." He gives a curt nod and turns his attention to the screen, where the alert tells him the movie is about to start.

God only knows what kind of trouble the kid could get himself into. Then again, there had been the mentions of stalkers, hadn't there? Maybe it's for the best that Eren is staying over after all.

Levi bites his lip, glancing discreetly at Eren, who has his arms crossed and bright green eyes staring at the screen. He looks calm in the near darkness, and the sun has long gone down, and Levi can see Eren's face lighting up from the screen. It makes Eren look like a black and white film star. Levi starts breathing a bit more heavily.

Tonight; Levi is going to have to learn self restraint.

It takes him a while to realize, but it's just occurred to Levi that he is sitting on the couch that Erwin _puked_ on. He reassures himself that it's fine, that the bottle of disinfectant he went through to clean it was good enough and that the couch is therefore beautifully clean. Ha. It's hard to believe. He just needs to distract himself. Looking at Eren is an effective distraction. So is the smell of curry. That works quite well too. Though it blocks out Eren's smell.

They're halfway through the movie, and Eren is cooing over how the movie is a totally manipulative mind fuck, testing the audience's morals by flipping opinions around to their own benefit. He's impressed by the movie, and that leaves Levi satisfied in knowing his choice of movie was a good one.

On the floor with a bag of popcorn, Hanji complains that the movie isn't realistic at all, what with how they portray people's reactions, and keeps questioning the T.V as though it has motives.

"Hanji, it's just a damn movie! Jeez, man." Erwin shakes his head in half amused annoyance. Hanji sulks and moves to clear up the dishes left behind from everyone's curry.

Levi would have done it, but… he's a little busy freaking out over Eren's closeness.

Eren shuffled over to talk to him during the movie, with a dumb smile as bright as his eyes and an eager but low voice that has Levi clenching his fists with how frustrated he's becoming. Sexually frustrated, that is. Now, he touches Levi's wrist to get his attention, and Levi is glad that the darkness of the room means that Eren can't see him blush, because he surely is. He must be. That would be a human reaction to such intimate proximity.

The only thing separating them is a few inches of leather, and the shared packet of Haribo sweets.

Levi finds himself wondering how the hell people even manage to have sex if they get so nervous, like this. He's dizzy and shaking like a leaf just because Eren touched him and looked his way. He can't even imagine what he'd be like if Eren were to do anything more.

He takes a deep, stuttering breath to steady his nerves, and allows Eren to see a small smirk appear on his face, shaking his head at Eren's childlike excitement over the movie.

"You know, I actually wanted to go to Uni to do Film and Visual Arts, so hearing Hanji's feedback interests me, as annoying as you seem to find it." Eren whispers, and flashes his teeth at Levi who melts a little at the sight.

"Why didn't you go do it?" He'd really like to have those teeth on his lips, if he wasn't so damn terrified of… of being in love, it seems.

Eren gives a dark chuckle and there's a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Shit happens, Levi."

Levi scoffs, but not at Eren. "I would know, I work at a crappy shop and sleep on someone's couch."

Eren turns to him again, this time a little more curiously. "You actually sleep on the couch? How long has it been like that?"

"Eh, for three months or so."

Eren frowns. "What, so you're homeless?"

"Pretty much."

Hanji comes back to sit on the floor, and that seems to end their conversation for the rest of the movie.

It's difficult to have Eren so close. He can't watch the movie at all and he can feel Eren's breath on his skin. To think he'd went almost an entire month without seeing Eren then BAM he sees him for one day, and the next; he's over at Levi's house, asking to stay over. Eren's going to sleep in the same room as him. His eyes widen in excitement at the thought. He could make Eren breakfast. He might get to hear Eren jerking off his morning wood-

Eren's phone rings and he swears as he leaves the room to go and answer it. All at once, Levi's suddenly more relaxed but at the same time, his body's colder. Eren must be a radiator, keeping Levi warm like that.

If Levi hadn't been so hyperaware he must've have even fallen asleep in the cosiness. Might've fallen asleep with his head falling onto Eren's shoulder, could've woken up to the boy stroking his hair like a cat…

"What do you mean it doesn't have "Ackerman Approval"?! That's not even a thing, Mikasa! I'm a grown man, and I have a black belt in Taekwondo; I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself safe." Eren's voice is loud in the kitchen.

The credits begin to roll on the screen and Erwin gives a low whistle, having been intrigued by the plot like some slack jawed teenager the entire time.

"I never expected the News Reporter guy to get angry like that. It's like… he moved from one extreme to the other about liking the robots, then started going on about how "great" America is and missed the point entirely."

Erwin looks pretty damn dumb when he's just had his mind blown. Wait. That's not an image he wants to see right now. Urgh. Yuck.

He escapes the living room to head to the kitchen, and sits on the black, smooth counter as Eren rants to his sister. Mikasa Ackerman, it seems. Why does his sister have a different surname from him? He kicks his legs gently against brown cabinets as he watches Eren pace on the cream coloured linoleum.

"Eren, why don't you let me speak to her? I'm the one that invited you, so she might want some reassurance that I'm not going to murder you in your sleep. I might have a knife beside my pillow, but it's not like I'd hurt you with it."

Eren and the voice on his phone pause for a very long moment.

"Eren, just come over. You should've asked me in the first place instead of intruding on strangers like that."

The brunette sighs with a roll of his eyes. "Look, Levi invited me over, and his room mate let me stay. He reminds me a little of you. You're both as tactless as one another. I think you'd like him. Plus, I have a promise to keep. I said I'd talk to Levi, but we've been too busy watching the movie to really get round to it."

Levi's leg stops swinging as he freezes. His throat is clogged with emotion; he's suddenly love-struck with Eren's sweetness. It surprises him that Eren would go to such an extent just to keep a promise… and to a stranger, no less. A really creepy stranger, as he's been told.

Well. There wasn't really any other way to go about trying to befriend Eren than inviting him over. Sure, he might have been a bit… unorthodox in his methods, but even after telling Levi that he was being weird, Eren seems to not give a damn in the least. Even if it'sdue to stupidity. But Eren said he'd wanted to go to University, so he can't be all that stupid.

"Eren, please just come over. I'll feel better knowing that you're safe and with someone you know _well_."

Yeah. Levi has a feeling he might not like Eren's manipulative sister.

Of course, after a request like that, Eren gives in and tells Erwin he won't be staying after all.

"It was nice meeting you, Eren. Don't be a stranger; you're welcome here anytime." Erwin shakes Eren's hand.

Hanji and Mike are already gone, and surprisingly a) Hanji barely spoke to Eren and Levi during the entire night b) Mike hugged Eren before he left. Mike is hardly the hugging type and by the looks of it, Eren didn't really seem to enjoy it that much the second time around, probably having come down from his initial excitement from seeing Mike again. "Michael" as Eren said.

Eren manages to reassure Erwin that Mikasa actually lives close to here, and that it shouldn't take more than ten minutes to get there, but doesn't reject Levi's offer to walk him home. Erwin looks at Levi with masked annoyance, and Levi can't help but be smug with his winnings.

They head down the painfully bright yellow stairwell, and into the dark night. It's around about eleven at night, and it'll be getting brighter soon when summer comes. Summer is his least favourite time of the year. Then again, he kind of hates all seasons because each one brings new problems.

Summer brings too much heat and sunlight in the early hours which worsens his insomnia. Autumn brings insects upon insects into his house, so often that he can't open the window to let out the last of the summer heat that's still in his room. Spring is just too cheerful for Levi's liking. Winter brings huge gas bills and fucking annoying Christmas songs. Oh, and his birthday. Right on Christmas; the very day he also hates with a passion.

Eren and Levi walk down the street that's lit with orange lamplights, the air is refreshing after having been in a stuffy room with too many people and Levi lets out a sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Eren takes a glimpse at him with mild concern. Levi has to look away as he suppresses a dopey grin.

"Nothing much. I'm just glad I'm out of that hellhole. It was way too crowded before. I'm going to have to wash my couch. It's got Erwin's ass germs on it now. Brilliant. It's bad enough that I can't clean properly when he leaves his stuff lying around everywhere."

Their trainers clack onto the pavement, echoing in the silent street. Levi sees Eren readjust his bag on his shoulder, having to cross his arms across his chest to keep the heat. The cold doesn't bother Levi much. He's lived through worse, after all. It could get worse even in spring. A couple of years ago it snowed it July. Then it was sunny again the next week at 23 degrees Celsius. Damn, that'd been a weird summer to say the least. Fucking Scotland, man.

"You know, I could help you out with that. I know who to go to, after all."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you just need to go to the council. Apply for the homeless list and since you're sleeping on a couch, they'll most likely put down your situation as "Dire" and get you into supported accommodation. You'll pretty much have a flat to yourself for a while until they find you a decent place."

"How do you know that?" Levi had been to school, had stayed all through high school too, almost religiously. Although due to the lack of proper resources, he hadn't done very well in his exams. Still, the school should've told him something like this, right?

"Ah, well, I got thrown out by my sister when I was sixteen. Back in Buckie. I was homeless for a while and had to go through all that."

Levi frowns, completely confused. "Mikasa, the girl who keeps tabs on you, threw you out? How could she even do that?"

Eren shakes his head slowly. "No, I have another sister. Andrea. Mikasa isn't my blood related sister, she's my foster sister. Andrea… is my half sister. My mum went through a ton of boyfriends, so we have different dads. My mum had me when she was in Art College and my sister just before she started it. Probably not the best decision she could have made."

Levi nods. "People do dumb things when they're young."

Eren just looks at him. "My mum was twenty when she had my sister."

Levi nods again, slower this time.

"She had me when she was thirty."

_Oh_. "Well. Okay."

Eren chuckles. "So, yeah. My mum had always been ill, and Andrea looked after me from when I was nine, after I left foster care and she got the legal permission." He sighs.

"I just think it's really ironic. Like, Andrea was always telling me how ungrateful I was, telling me she loved me and that was why she took me on, with her son and eventually her daughter. My niece and nephew. Then she goes and kicks me out. Even though my mum had kicked her out when she was sixteen, too. Andrea didn't just dump me on the streets like my mum did for her, after Andrea came out of foster care. She also had a semi-good reason to ask me to leave, but…" Eren trails off and Levi is struck with a chest pulling urge to comfort him.

He doesn't try to. He's not good at that at all, and he'd probably just make Eren cry. He kinda looks like he will. God. What has he done? He just wanted to know why Eren knew how to be homeless.

He'd considered taking Mike on his offer, maybe going and asking Eren directly why he was involved with Mike and his therapy, but yeah. He's done enough damage tonight. It makes him feel oddly guilty to have pried so much. Though… it had been Eren's doing.

Eren grins weakly at him. "See, you get me talking and I end up spilling my life story. I'm used to talking to strangers I guess. Well. You got what you asked for; I talked to you."

Really, Levi still has a lot of questions that haven't been answered. Even more, now that he's been given a preview of Eren's life. He's really surprised at how open Eren is after just a few times of meeting.

"I think I actually asked if I could talk to you, not the other way round." Levi teases him.

Eren laughs, more genuinely this time, like Levi's somehow lifted a barrier. "Another day, another day. I'll contact you this time, okay?" They stop in front a house, and Levi feels the familiar dread of never seeing Eren again creep in. It's a cold and lonely feeling.

"Next time, I'll take you to the council. We'll talk to a housing officer. Yeah?"

Right now, Levi wants this to be a date, and he really wants to fucking kiss this man full on the lips. Instead he gulps, nodding a little too eagerly and waves Eren off with a single goodbye before awkwardly walking back down the street without another word. He can't really say anything, what with how overwhelmed he is all of a sudden.

Eren isn't deterred in the least by Levi's sudden indifference, and when Levi looks back, he sees Eren wave back a little more enthusiastically before rushing inside the house, his bag bouncing against his shoulder as he runs.

The words are like a mantra inside Levi's mind. He walks down the street back to his house in a happy daze.

Next time-next time-next time.

He'll contact Levi this time. God, this must mean he kept Levi's phone number as a contact last time Levi called. Wow. Levi's ears are burning at the tips. That means he's _really_ fucking happy.

He still wonders why Eren needed to go to therapy. Eren seems pretty resilient, after what he's heard and seen from him. He heard things about his mum. Levi isn't quite sure how he should take it when he realizes Eren referred to her in past tense. _Went_ through boyfriends. _Had _always been ill. And he'd heard about his sister, the other one called Andrea. They'd both been through foster care, and Eren had met Mikasa and possibly Armin through it, it seems.

Levi has lived by himself for as long as he remembers, seeing as his "guardian" Kenny wasn't exactly there for him like a proper parent should. Still… There aren't many people he can think of that get thrown out at sixteen years old… Not in this country. Not in this day and age.

But… then again, the universe kind of has to bend around Eren's being for anything to make sense.

He reaches Erwin's house and goes straight to the couch-his couch, of course. Erwin is in the bathroom, getting ready for bed and Levi can't really care less. Levi could be leaving this place soon. He might never have to sleep on a couch again, and he might have his own actual fucking house for once. His own space. His own privacy. All because of Eren.

Who's to say Levi is a stranger now? He knows the kid's name and practically half his story, and it's almost the same for Eren. He gets to explain himself though. Next time.

And best of all; Eren doesn't think he's creepy. So fuck you Hanji. And Mike. And Erwin. Everyone can just go fuck themselves senseless and feel no pleasure whatsoever. Ha.

He fishes out the calendar from underneath the cushion, and finds the ballpoint pen using the weak light from the lamp across the room.

How does he even write down a day like this?

What can he say to immortalize the fact that he sat through a movie with Eren fucking Jaeger, got to listen to his story, got to eat fucking Haribo with him and he got to see Eren two days in a row, with the promise of another meeting? The fact that Eren guaranteed his freedom from Erwin?

How the hell does this guy even exist?!

He flips the calendar to April, and writes down a sentence in the dated box.

"_The day I realized that Eren Jaeger is humanity's last hope."_


	7. April 29th

Levi hasn't told Erwin that he might be moving out soon. In a way, it kind of feels like Levi is cheating on Erwin, what with the way he's going behind his back like this. But they're not dating. Ew. As if.

Besides, he's still not had a phone call of any sort since he last saw Eren on Sunday. Granted, it's only been two days, but what are the chances that Eren might've just told him he'd contact him, in the hope that Levi would leave him alone?

Levi likes to think that those chances are slim. But still. It's better not to tell Erwin until things are sorted out for certain.

He stares out the porche window, leaning into the black leather of the seat. It's kind of a nice day outside, there might be clouds everywhere, but the sun is shining behind them. That's probably the best weather they're going to get this hour. It'll change soon. Really soon. It's as though the clouds overhead of Scotland have a mind of their own, what with the way they change the weather so often.

There are people pottering around on the street. At this time on a Tuesday morning, it's usually only old people and parents that go wandering around uptown. Kids are at school, or well, they should be.

Levi is half daydreaming as he stares outside, thinking about the fact there are stupid brats that skive school when they shouldn't be taking such things for granted. He jolts into reality when his back pocket buzzes. He retrieves his flip phone and looks at the caller ID.

It's Eren. There's a small smile on his lips and his grey eyes widen slightly when he sees this. He answers it, pressing the pick up button and moves it towards his ear.

Now the question is; can Levi have a normal conversation with Eren over the phone?

Levi takes a deep breath in anticipation and says, "H-Hello?"

"Hey! Levi!" A cheerful Scottish voice calls back. "I'm on my break, are you busy right now?"

Is he busy? No, he's sitting on his ass in Erwin's expensive, shitty car. "I'm not, just on the way to work with Erwin." he replies.

That.. That actually sounds like a normal reply. Wow. He's improved. It must be because the fear of sounding stupid, and the fluttering in his stomach combined, makes him only capable of giving short, simple answers. At least it's working for him. Eren isn't cringing or mentioning how weird he sounds. That's a good sign (he shouldn't have to be looking out for signs like that).

"Right, right, okay. So, yesterday, I managed to get an appointment at the council. You can see a housing officer tomorrow at eleven. Is that okay for you? I can change it if you have work."

Levi shakes his head. "No, I'm not busy then, that's my day off."

'Smooth, Levi.' He praises himself.

"Oh really? It's my day off tommorrow too!" God, his excited voice is so adorable. It should be illegal to sound that happy!

"Where should we meet?" Please say Eren's house. Levi wants to go to Eren's house. Please. Please.

There's a pause on the other side of the line. "… What, you want me to come with you?"

Levi slouches in his seat, frowning to himself. He thought Eren coming with him was a given. Best not to panic. 'Keep improving, Levi.'

"Yeah, if that's alright. I have no idea what I'm doing, and you do." That's right. Play the sympathy card. That usually works, since Levi rarely uses it. Normally, he just says straight out what he wants and makes sure he gets it.

"Och, it's my day off anyway. Might as well. Eh… Well, the person should ask you why you're homeless, and then they have to do a bunch of forms that pretty much all say the same things as what you just said. They'll tell you about what benefits ye can apply for an' ah. Is your job part time?"

"Uh, yeah. Twenty hours a week maximum."

"How much d'ya get paid? Do you have a bank account?"

"Six pounds an hour. And yeah, I do."

"…Eech, that's not a lot."

Levi rolls his eyes, smirking slightly. "Yeah. I don't even have much saved up either."

"Ah, well that's good. I mean, not good, but good. You can't tell them about any savings you have, otherwise they'll try to take it all off you. It's kind of illegal not to tell them, but I did it, and I'm fine. Nobody chased me up or gave a damn. 'Sides, Andrea told me to do it that way, and she knows best when it comes to that stuff. We could meet outside the council, like, maybe… Ten or fifteen minutes before? The people usually end up being late anyway. Just like dentists and doctors."

Looks like they won't be meeting at Eren's house. He just wanted to see what it looked like… He wants to know if Eren has potted plants or animals and see what his "idiot" roommate's like. Maybe even just see the outside of wherever it is he lives. He said in the flood zone, right? Levi could visit the area-

Wait. It might be creepy if he goes wandering around to look for Eren's house. It's bad enough he tried waiting in the bar for Eren to show up, for almost a month. Levi's on first name terms with the bar tender now.

The bartender's called Billy. Billy can make a really mean Jaegerbomb, and Levi has definitely not been ordering them just so he can look at the name on the bottle. It's in the past now. It's fine. No-one has to know. And no more Jaegerbombs for him for as long as he lives.

Eren casually mentioned his and his family's illegal activities. Levi's not really sure why, but he likes knowing this. He just likes it. He hums happily into the microphone.

"That sounds fine, I'll probably be early anyway." Now he just needs to find out where the hell the council office is…

"Ai~" Eren needs to stop making adorable noises when he speaks. It's too much for Levi to handle and makes him hide his face under his free hand.

"I've gotta go back to work now. Yes, Connie, I heard you. Just give me a minute. Alright, see you outside the council a little bit before eleven?"

Levi nods, then realizes Eren can't see him. "Uh huh." is his dumb reply.

There's shouting in the background and Eren shouts into the microphone. "GUYS I'M ON THE PHONE SHOW SOME DECENCY WOULD IT KILL YOU TO BE QUIET FOR ONE SECOND. I better write that time down. I'm totally gonna forget otherwise. Okay. It's on my hand. Pens and palms are brilliant things." Eren chuckles breathily to himself. "Bye, Levi!"

And then everything is silent apart from the cars driving past Erwin's car and the hum of the engine.

Levi stares at the screen of his flip phone in front of him, cheeks flushed and his lip trembling slightly. He did it! He finally spoke to Eren like a civilised person! He ends up having to bite back a smile and turn away from Erwin so he can look out the window with glazed eyes, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

Erwin clears his throat. "It kinda sounds like your odd nature is rubbing off on him already. I could hear that kid's voice from over here."

Erwin gasps when he looks over to Levi again, to see him glowering at him unblinkingly from beneath his black fringe. "No, Erwin. We are one and the same kind of person. This is why we are meant to be."

Erwin leaves him alone after that. And so he should, because Levi can pull a very impressive psychopath face. He learned it from Hanji, though Levi's version is more of a demonic glare, whereas Hanji's version looks like a twisted grin. The Irish man isn't aware of how often he slips into that face.

Hanji really needs to take some of his own advice. People just don't grin widely at their grandparent's funerals and tell everyone to have a good time during the wake.

That night, after a long fours hours of work, a packet of pot noodles for dinner and a few hours of staring blankly at the T.V screen later, Erwin has gone to bed and Levi is alone in the near darkness of the living room. In lamplight, he sits on his leather loveseat and retrieves the calendar from under the cushion.

Levi's decided that hiding the calendar under the couch cushion might be a good idea, seeing as he doesn't want Eren to find it on the coffee table, should he ever come over. He will, Levi will make sure of that.

And Erwin. He needs to hide the calendar from him. He doesn't need that blonde hulk of an idiot getting his germs all over his things then making fun of him. Oh, and Hanji too. It's bad enough he calls Levi out on acting odd in front of Eren.

God knows what he'd do if he knew Levi wrote things about Eren like a love-sick teenager with a diary. But he's better than that. Levi has a calendar, not a diary. It's more organised than a diary. More professional looking and less obvious.

The pen can stay on the coffee table, though. It's inconspicuous and does no harm to his secret. Plus, Levi doesn't fancy waking up to a broken pen under the cushion and his ass covered in ink one morning.

It's amazing to know that Eren looked out for him in his own spare time, even if he didn't contact Levi at all yesterday. It's far better than having never been in his mind, after all.

In fact, Levi thinks that small gestures like phone calls to organise things are really underappreciated.

Sure, you get phone calls that can last until five in the morning, where both people spill their secrets and can hear each other's husky morning voices and sleepiness, but…

Levi wants to enjoy small things like phone calls that organise things, until something bigger happens, because it's going to take time for anything more to happen. Him and Eren still technically strangers so they don't do things like call each other for company. They won't be strangers for long though. Not if Levi can help it. Whether he intends to help it or not… seeing as his mouth likes to move faster than his common sense.

…Levi has a plan.

Beside the bread box in the kitchen, Erwin has left a black sharpie pen. Levi fetches it, and returns to write on the front of the calendar: "Progress Report". Levi is sure one day, he'll look back, and be able to analyse how exactly their relationship progressed, and see the exact chain of events that happened to push things forward.

It's a brilliant idea. It's something to look forward to look back on, as ironic as that sounds. And apart from Eren and his hopefully more common visits, Levi doesn't really have much to look forward to. Apart from finally seeing the last of Erwin when Eren and the council helps him get his own place. That's definitely something to anticipate.

He finds the ballpoint pen, and finds the calendar page that's already flipped to April. In the dated box, he writes:

_"__The day I realized that Eren makes the little things in life -like short phone calls and speech habits and sweet ramblings- matter to me."_


	8. April 30th

Levi enters the council office that looks suspiciously like an airport and smells like a hospital, wearing his fabric grey joggers and a matching hoodie which mostly conceals his green top. He'd ended up sleeping for five hours last night. Was that a record? For him, probably. He hadn't slept like a baby since… well, since he was a baby, simply put. He is well on time for the appointment as the clock on the wall tells him.

Levi sees Eren already slouching in a seat in the cold waiting area, and finds that the view is hypnotic. His bright green eyes compliment his red t-shirt and blue denim jeans hug his legs just right. Eren turns to Levi, perfect mouth forming a smile until he notices something and his expression darkens. At least he isn't running away…

Levi wanders up to him, sitting beside him and casually reaching his arm across the back of Eren's chair.

"Hey. Y'alright?" he asks politely.

Levi crosses his legs. Eren looks back at him with a determined frown and hunches his shoulders away from Levi's arm. Eren's cheeks are too cute and pink and round to let Levi look away. His lips are supple looking and angrily pursed like a bristling kitten-

Eren clicks his tongue. "Levi, I didn't know you supported_Celtic_." That's a greeting Levi's never heard before, that's for sure.

There's a trail of Goosebumps making their way up Levi's arm at Eren's aggressive tone.

Levi shuffles in his seat. "Your eyes are greener than my top. That's actually impressive."

There's a pause as Eren's eyebrows twitch in confusion and his mouth opens slightly, only to close again.

Levi continues, "At first, I just thought, okay so both are pretty green but yours are really, really green. I'm not sure how many levels of green there are, but your colour of green is at the top. Really high up, you know? Speaking of which, there's a newspaper over there on that stand. Could you grab it for me?" Levi points to the stand where newspapers are placed in the shelf near the top.

He could've gotten the newspaper himself, but it's worth the puzzled look on Eren's face and the glimpse of his tan ass crack when Eren reaches out to get said newspaper.

And it sure beats football sectarianism in the middle of a council building. Levi had had to deal with that more times that he would've liked back in high school. He'd even been separated from Ranger's supporters because of his shirt. The teachers had gone as far as putting conflicting supporters into different classes. There'd been a whole law banning strips in schools too, and in prisons.

Levi shuffles the flimsy paper in his hands. He frowns as he flicks through it, skipping the dodgy, pornographic pictures that you always get on page three in the Northern Scot Newspaper.

The first time he saw the naked, woman with heaving chebs on that page at the tender age of eleven; he knew for sure that he was gay.

"Someone took the job and entertainment section. All I'm left with is some shitty story about the new school that's going to be built in Elgin, the Commonwealth games and Referendum crap. Independence… What's your take on it, Ere-"

"Yes. I'm voting yes. Scotland _has_ to become independent." Eren stares him down, emerald eyes suddenly burning with fearsome beauty.

So Eren is pro-independence, huh? Not bad, not bad at all kid. Levi doesn't really know about politics, but he can tell that Eren probably does. And since Eren can be smart, his take on the referendum is probably an informed choice.

There are little dots of yellow dotting the green and a ring of dark blue around his iris that Levi never noticed before. Huh. The yellow reminds Levi of a lemon ice-lolly. Especially with Eren's intense gaze making the inside of his mouth dry up and his body tense from the close attention. Zesty. He slowly licks his lips and Eren looks away with redness burning on the apples of his cheeks.

"We need to be more individual, have more freedom, you know? People say Scotland's an annoying teenager and England is the big parent. 's what it feels like anyway. They're caging us in like livestock and letting us have the canny Conservatives rule the U.K, even though we voted for Labour and the S.N.P."

Levi shrugs his shoulders and looks towards the reception. Eren's views remind him of Hanji's drunken rambles and furniture throwing habits when he rants about the Northern Irish. "That's just life, pal."

Levi's name is called out by a middle aged woman beside the reception after a few minutes of silence. She even looks like a councillor, with glasses and a tidy, neat bun and a pencil skirt. How sad must that be, to have your life be told instantly, just by how you look? Levi hopes his appearance doesn't say much about him.

Levi jolts and he's thrown out his thoughts when Eren taps his shoulder. He's been staring at Eren. (Eh. He's probably used to it by now anyway).

They walk along the hallway, and then make themselves comfortable in the little office; sitting on two crappy plastic chairs while the woman gets a comfy swivel chair.

Levi turns green at the unorganized mess of papers on the desk. And on the shelves and even on the goddamn floor. After a little while of introductions, Levi has learnt that the councillor's name is Claire.

Eventually, Levi is asked to tell Claire why he's homeless.

But see, he won't just be telling Claire, because Eren's in the room as well and that worries him a lot more than he thought. Apparently his apprehension shows, because Eren shifts on his seat timidly.

"Ah, um. I can leave if you want, Levi. Everything you say will be confidential with Claire, right?" Claire agrees with him.

A film strip of recollections filters through Levi's mind; memories of the day when he'd taken Eren into the shop, and afterwards Eren had been annoyed that Levi had talked about his life.

Maybe rambling non-stop for three minutes solid hadn't been the best attempt of an equal conversation. Yeah. Over eager doesn't even begin to describe how he felt that day, talking about everything he could. He doesn't really like telling people about his past because there's not much to it. But ironically, when you get Levi talking about it; he just doesn't stop.

He swallows slowly, remembering the month after that day, spent trying to find Eren in the pub and out on the streets of Trost. He remembers how Eren had leapt and actually ran away when he'd seen Levi again.

"You don't… have to stay. I know you don't like hearing about my life. It's fine." He kinda wants to tell Eren about his life though, since Eren told him about his. It's fair.

Eren's eyes widen in sympathy. "Hey, what makes you think that?"

Levi mimes reading the words in thin air, pointing at it with a finger as he reads in deadpan, "'I swear he was trying to tell me his whole life story and I didn't even know his name. Hell, he didn't even know his own name.' Sound familiar by any chance?"

Does Levi sound uptight? Probably.

Eren's eyes flicker to the table with a flash of dread and his adam's apple bobs thickly. "I wasn't aware that you heard that." Then as an after thought he adds, "Sorry."

Levi hums in reply, staring Eren down with a glare, then catches himself fantasizing inappropriate things, including "proper apologies" in the bedroom, and shakes his head.

"Whatever." Eren's hands are visibly shaking in his lap. He rests a hand over them with his eyebrows quirking in surprise. "I told you, it's fine."

When he lifts his hand away, after a moment too long of lingering in Eren's warmth and Eren squirms, he digs his nails into his own palm to see if that'll numb the electric tingling sensation. Nope. Still tingling, the same way the aftertaste of lemon prickles the inside of your mouth. Levi eats lemons when he gets the chance, and takes pride in the fact that his face doesn't screw up.

"Okay folks; story time." he starts abruptly so that Eren will be distracted. Are they ready? Sit tight, boys and girls.

"I was born in Glasgow, Calton, raised there by my mum's friend since mum died when I was born. My dad had been a one night stand, and had dropped off the face of the earth; so being looked after by Kenny it was. He wasn't so bad at first, taught me to talk and gave me food, shit like that. But he started neglecting me when I was about fourteen. Went out to work or got drunk with his pals, whatever. I don't know."

Levi doesn't know and he doesn't care; but he still really hates that man for giving him an early adulthood on top of the shitty, poverty stricken environment they'd lived in.

Kenny clearly got a steady income; seeing as he was renown for always having a fully loaded revolver in his back pocket and dealt similar weapons. That part has nothing to do with Levi though. He's made sure of that.

Eren looks interested, that's good. Better than good.

"I messed around on the streets, pick pocketing rich people with a gang that I was apparently the leader of. I made friends with the lady down the street from mine who took pity on me after I tried to mug her. Erwin's mum."

He looks pointedly at Eren, smirking slightly since he'd met the idiot and Eren smiled at him, apparently relieved at his change of tune.

"Since Kenny was never home, I let her baby me from time to time. Then Erwin decided he'd look after me when he got old enough and tried to adopt me."

He almost laughs at the memory of Erwin begging him to let him adopt him, saying he'd be the best adopted family_ever_ and started spouting about how they could get a dog and a picket fence like in the movies. Then Levi had told him that adoption was how gay people got married, and Erwin stopped harassing him about it. For a while.

"When that didn't work, Erwin got himself on the housing list and went to college. I did my jobs and started living by myself in my old house. Then Erwin got this _brilliant_ idea when he got his house and left school. He packed one plastic Tesco bag with everything I owned and dumped me in the back of his car.

When we got there he told me 'Hey Levi, you're living with me now'. And by that, he meant sleeping on his couch. Three months in, and my relationship with that couch is still going strong. We're living not-so-happily ever after. The end."

Levi can't help but roll his eyes in exasperation. "Who's up for the epilogue? Better yet, the sequel?"

Hey, on the bright side, at least he didn't go off topic. That's good enough for him. And it seems to be good enough for Eren, because his shoulders are shaking. Wait. Levi tilts his head to see his face.

That little shit is fucking _laughing_.

"What's so funny, brat? Does my life amuse you that much?" He's glad though, because Eren's apparent light heartedness is better than him leaving for good.

Eren gasps, trying to contain his laughter, cheeks flushed bright red and eyes shining. "It's… not it's not the story. Just the bitty at the end. I can imagine Erwin saying that." He wipes tears of laughter from his cheeks.

"Oh jeez. Sorry, lass. Didna mean to get so caught up." Eren clamps his mouth together and his lips tremble from hiding giggles.

In the end, Levi gets a form and makes another appointment so he can hand it in again the next day or whenever. He's told that since his case is in fact serious, like Eren predicted, he'll most likely get into a homeless hostel or a bed and breakfast within a week. Eren looks a little stunned by the end of the session.

"You're… you don't act like you're twenty three Levi." That's what he says when Levi tells Claire how old he is. Levi's a nineties kid; hell yeah.

They stand outside the building for a while. Levi doesn't really want to go, and scuffs his feet off the sandstone coloured slabs beneath him. Eren asks him about Kenny, but Levi can't really tell him much more than what he already has.

Eren nods understandingly. "Hmm, that's kind of the same for me and Andrea. I lived with her for like… eight years, and I still barely know a thing about her."

The council building looms over them both, startlingly white against the ancient buildings around them. Buildings like the museum down the road, the gentlemen's club that looks like a castle, the old bike shop just beside it and the houses that were built in the fifties.

It starts to rain, even though the sky had been bright blue earlier. It still is actually. Weird. Levi's caught up thinking about how he doesn't want to go, about how they're lingering outside, almost as if Eren doesn't want to go either. Eren glances up at him with a small smile, looking fair affronted.

He's fucking melting at that smile.

"You know, I actually met Mikasa in a similar way to how I met you. Found her on the streets, or well, she found me and I dumped my scarf on her, told her to come with me, since I'd seen her a couple of times on that same street corner for two days."

"You haver, and say _the_ most random shit, but I reckon I could come across creepier people. Like Jean. He does this face and I swear to god it's the…" Eren shudders and makes a disgusted noise. "No, you know what, I can't even tell ya how bouffin' it is."

Eren's eyes lock on his and Levi has to ignore the heat crawling up his neck. "Give me a call if you need me, yeah? We're cool. And I wouldn't mind hanging out with you again, last time was actually kinda decent. I got free food and who the hell rejects free food? It's a god send!" he flashes his teeth and his eyes crinkle childishly.

Levi looks at the ground, contemplating that and thinking about Hanji's curries. "Hmm. I'll let you know if we cook anything worth mentioning again." Knowing Erwin's pretty eat-the-breid, it might have to depend on Levi's own cooking skills because Erwin will probably try to feed Eren rabbit food.

"I'll help you move out too, I've got boxes if you- Or no, wait, it might be better to get you a food parcel? The hostel should provide stuff like furniture, but it's only temporary. You're gonna need a shit load of stuff when you get a place of your own. Lots of paperwork to fill out and places to go. Oh, and don't be too surprised if they move you out of town. Just take what you can get."

_What._

Levi doesn't like it when Eren has to leave but he likes to watch him go.

Actually, no he doesn't.

That ass might be nice, but it isn't quite in focus and that makes it lose its initial appeal. He squints. Still can't see. Damn it. Eren blurs from his vision and disappears.

Great. Now Levi needs to go to an optician. Maybe Eren likes the glasses type. If he doesn't, there are always contacts.

It probably doesn't help his eyesight when he sits on his black couch with only the lamp across the room to help him see. Erwin still hasn't come home. He'll probably come back drunk. Ooh, Levi could clean until he comes back, now that he's not in the way. He usually cleans when he's in a good mood. Or anytime he can.

Levi's bowl of rice that he made is sitting stubbornly on the coffee table and Levi doesn't really want to eat it anymore. It's too rice-y. Bleh.

He writes a short sentence with a ballpoint pen that has already made its mark on his middle finger, and fantasizes about things as he attempts to sleep afterwards.

Those fantasies vary from tracking down Kenny and kissing Eren. Not the most likely combination of thoughts… But… Let's just say there's a lot of ways to spend ten hours when you're not sleeping. (And no, he's not a claw baw)

"_We owe it to each other to tell stories… Even if they're just our own."_


End file.
